Lights Out
No note on where this is...looks like it might be in Brooklyn
The ferry terminal on NYC's west side
(Photos from
WNBC-TV, New York)
[COLOR=indigo]I don't understand why this is such a big deal. So the power is out. And?[/COLOR]
Well, how are all those people going to get home? Walk?
Well, it hit the nation's largest city, a good swath of the US, the capital of Canada, and its largest city...all at the same time. Not to mention, there were no warnings of impending blackouts or brownouts in the US. And as far as New York--it's already been hit by 9/11, and was left a mess after the Blackout of '77. And it will be dark in just over an hour.
I don't know about you, but I'd say the story as a whole is a big deal.
Plus, security cameras and alarm systems will not be functional. Stores will be ripe for the picking!
Juju, they're not very good (I think they were taken from a helicopter), but they should be showing up:
http://msdelta.net/~sycamore/cellar/blackout.jpg
http://msdelta.net/~sycamore/cellar/blackout2.jpgEverything I've seen and heard so far is talking about how calm everyone has been thus far. Good stuff!
Originally posted by sycamore
Well, it hit the nation's largest city, a good swath of the US, the capital of Canada, and its largest city...all at the same time. Not to mention, there were no warnings of impending blackouts or brownouts in the US. And as far as New York--it's already been hit by 9/11, and was left a mess after the Blackout of '77. And it will be dark in just over an hour.
I don't know about you, but I'd say the story as a whole is a big deal.
[COLOR=indigo]OK, so it hit a bunch of cities at the same time. I'm not sure how that makes a difference. Now, I can see it would be a bitch if you're on the subway, and have to walk home the rest of the way, but still... it's a power outage.... I guess I'm just ignorant of the consequences. I'm sitting here watching the news, so I see all the people on the street, walking home, mugging for the camera, etc, but still... Vegas's power went down too, and it wasn't a "SPECIAL REPORT" broadcast nationwide...[/COLOR]
Yeah, I already tried the direct links. It just times out after a while and says "503 - Connection failed".
I'm just assuming it's a temporary problem associated with some server somewhere with no power, but I thought I'd mention it nonetheless.
But has Las Vegas had a total power outage since 9/11? And wasn't Nevada somewhat tied into the California energy crisis a few years ago? Not to mention, Las Vegas is a podunk town compared to Toronto and New York. (No offense meant, just a comparison of size and people.)
It hasn't affected you, and it hasn't affected me either. But this would have grabbed my attention in any case b/c I know New York. I know what it's like on a normal workday. I know what it's like during the afternoon rush hour. And while things have apparently gone smoothly thus far, I can only imagine what it would be like to be stuck in Manhattan: trying to get off the island, unable to use the transportation systems I normally do, unable to take money out of the bank, etc.
Here's why it's important: people are on life support in those cities.
[COLOR=indigo]I know, Dave, but if they are on life support, they are in a hospital, and hospitals have back up generators for this very circumstance.[/COLOR]
Heh. I promise that something went wrong to cause this failure, which means something can go wrong with them. Is it likely? No.
(Is it likely that what happened today would happen?)
It's important because nowadays, lives depend on electricity. Even when there's a single backup, that's not always good enough.
And anything that happens in New York these days tends to have repercussions beyond New York...especially in this neck of the woods (Philadelphia, DC).
Some hospitals were apparently having problems with getting power earlier, but Bloomberg says they all have power now.
20 minutes until sunset...
Did anyone see the double episode of Third Watch where New York had a blackout? That was fucked up. They sound like they have a plan to deal with any possible problems though, so hopefully, if the power isn't back on soon, cooler heads will prevail.
All the hospitals except 1 had back up power.
Millions of people trapped in buildings with no ventilation and windows that don't open. no subways, busses but no traffic lights and cars can't be retrieved from parking garages, people trapped in buildings that can't use stairs.
And the damn wine is getting warm.:eek:
[COLOR=indigo]THE WINE IS GETTING WARM?
OH SHIT!! Why haven't they called the National Guard?!?[/COLOR]
No internet. :( I would have to kill myself!
Folks climbing out of the subway (WABC-TV, New York)
People walking across the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan (FOX News/AP)
A pedestrian trying to direct traffic in lower Manhattan (Newsday)
Lights are starting to come back on...alright!
I had to laugh at this...from the
CBC:
Outside Toronto's City Hall, the supervisor of corporate communications, Robert MacKenzie, said he had "no idea" where to find Mayor Mel Lastman.Originally posted by OnyxCougar
[COLOR=indigo]I don't understand why this is such a big deal. So the power is out. And?[/COLOR]
I heard someone on the radio state that in the 1965 blackout there were 90,000 people underground when the lights went out.
I've been in blackouts outside Philadelphia which lasted for hours, but I cannot imagine what it would be like in a high density area like NYC. Considering the heat, it must be pretty intense.
I've been to Vegas, and although there are a lot of people crammed into those casino hotels, it really is a small town with a lot of guests. At least as a hotel guest, you are 'home' in that you are in a place which is responsible for taking care of you.
I'll bet the disaster preparedness in Las Vegas has been excellent ever since the first casino exec screened Ocean's Eleven back in 1960.
Picture millions of people stuck in high rise office buildings, without air conditioning or working elevators, miles from home. How many of us would be capable of walking 12 miles in 80+ degree heat?
Fortunately, the water supply was still usable.
With no tv there could be a mini-population boom in nine months, unless it was just to hot to do the nasty.
Keith Olbermann mentioned how that apparently happened during the '77 Blackout.
I was in Boston for the '65. Went with a neighbor to get beer at the liquor store which was a glass front building. Three cars parked out front with headlights shining in and door locked. They'd let one person at a time in with one guy selling and the other holding a shotgun. The good old days before electronic cash registers. :D
In San Diego, Bush said "slowly but surely we're coping with this massive, national problem," and added that he would order a review of "why the cascade was so significant."
Bush said he suspected that the nation's electrical grid would need to be modernized.
Question: Will it be necessary to invade Canada in order to do the reconstruction there?
Okay, so there was this big power failure.
Which the people who tell us these kinds of things (the Canadian Power Dude) said resulted from a "lightning strike" at the Niagara power generation facility.
Where the National Weather Service said there was no thunderstorm activity.
And while I was out on the front porch at work (around 5pm) there were numerous military jets (transports and fighters) flying around ...
Lightning.
I heard the power officals on the news say that they had no idea what caused the power outages, and that they refused to speculate until they knew for sure. They also said the Niagra Falls plant was running just fine.
It seems to be at the everyone is blaming everyone else for the failure as I read CNN's latest report ... Canada blames America, America blames Canada, everybody blames NY, NY blames "one of the nuclear plants in PA" (please don't let it be Limerick, thank you, although they say "all of the nuke plants are fine." )
If they really are out to get you, it's not paranoia.
(Forgot to mention: I'm told the power was out in the Independent Republic of Slangsylvania for about and hour - hour and a half).
Really Cool Pic borrowed from Fox News
(great night to be an astronomer!)
Question: Will it be necessary to invade Canada in order to do the reconstruction there?
No Rich, our crews cross the border regularly.
They are like 9 kids in the back of a station wagon, not me, wasn't me, not me,...
When a house of cards goes down, it's hard to tell which card caused it unless you're watching that card. Believe me, SOMEONE was watching that card. ;)
Originally posted by sycamore
Keith Olbermann mentioned how that apparently happened during the '77 Blackout.
That, my ugly friend, is a myth.
Originally posted by wolf
(Forgot to mention: I'm told the power was out in the Independent Republic of Slangsylvania for about and hour - hour and a half).
The Grifftopian grid fell for a little while as well. I'm still harboring home power generation desires...
I was checking this item out on ebay when the surge occurred:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3622465603&category=16033Snopes refutes a birth rate spike after the '65 Blackout, but I haven't seen much for the one in '77. I found some information on a couple of NY State government websites, but they're not loading--a victim of the power outages? I'll look at them again later.
I heard several explanations last night, most of them involving one country blaming the other:
--An overload at a Niagara Mohawk station in New York State (from both sides of the border)
--A lightning strike in New York State (apparently started by Jean Chretien, debated in the US, refuted by AccuWeather)
--A lightning strike in Quebec (discussed on MSNBC, did not hear outcome of that)
--A fire at a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania (discussed on CBC Radio, I think I heard this briefly mentioned late last night on MSNBC)
Well, my job is half-fucked today, since a good chunk of brokers I deal with are in the Northeast. Or maybe, that'll make it easier...we'll see.
I'm surprised the Yankees and eBay haven't noticed that yet. Although, it's only been up since yesterday.
During our outage, ABC radio was blaming a fire at a power station in NYC. The mess just shows how fragile the grid is at peak usage. [sarcasm]Good thing our local do gooders are opposing a new natural gas power station up the road from us here.[/sarcasm]
I'm thinking George got pissed and put it up himself.
Originally posted by wolf
Lightning.
Lightning from a cloudless sky (or, the "Allah really is on the side of the terrorists" hypothesis) was Canadian PM Cretin's (err, Chretien) idea. When that didn't fly he switched to a story about a fire at a Con Ed generating plant that Con Ed knew nothing about. Apparently there IS a North American government leader who can make Bush look smart.
Not to hint at other causes or anything ...
blackout seems to have been bracketed by the two pronged attacks on the internet from lovsan/msblast.exe ...
Of course that's a total coincidence. Unrelated events.
Nothing going on here, nothing to see, move along.
And while I was out on the front porch at work (around 5pm) there were numerous military jets (transports and fighters) flying around ...
Turns out they put jets in the air after the outage just in case.
Don't know about transports...
Dear East Coasters-
We just heard about this Big Power Outage over here in Signal Hill, Calif. 90075.
Thank you for the pictures, and I wish the stinky catbox was portable to over There, because it sounds like a lively place!
Thanks again,
Your Pal, Fluffy
Yeah yeah yeah. Gray Davis was, believe it or not, bragging on how HIS outages were only like 30 minutes long.
What a dick. De-elect that guy, would you?
You bet we will, yep!
Your Pal, Fluffy
HIS outages were only like 30 minutes long.
True but when the come every hour for weeks it's kind of disruptive.:rolleyes:
What was on Ebay?